Obituary of Deborah Jean Fusilier

FUSILIER, Deborah Jean Deborah Jean (nee: Wootton) Fusilier died on Sunday, April 23, 2017. She was born in New Mexico in 1950, the daughter of Laurie Thomas and Sheila (Bugeln) Wootton. Her father was a career U.S. Air Force officer, so she had many homes until her parents retired to Florida. She graduated from Oak Ridge High School in Orlando and the University of South Florida in Tampa. After graduation, Debi joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, working with high school students in Dallas, Texas for four years. There, she met Lane through common friends, they dated, and were married, forty years ago this past November. Her four children were born in Waco, Texas, where the Fusilier’s helped start a church and served that church for 21 years. She moved with her family to Hamilton, Ontario in August 1999, believing that this city was the place where they should invest the remainder of their ministry lives. Debi volunteered with the ministry to children, then teaching and training others to teach children. It was her life’s passion. Over forty years, Debi taught children about the God of the Bible and about His great love for them through Jesus. Her parallel concern for their security and safety led her to implement Plan To Protect. She also trained other churches to protect their children, joining the Plan To Protect national training team. She loved beauty and treasured the arts, especially the paintings of Jan Vermeer. She acted in plays produced at the church, including the role of Joy Davidman, wife of C.S. Lewis. Debi is survived by her husband, Lane Fusilier (pastor of Philpott Memorial Church), four children, Austin (Sara), Evan (Joelle), Eric (Laura) and Laurie Brown (Derek), a sister, Linell Ela, and a brother, Tom Wootton. She greatly loved her four grandchildren, Ella, Theo, Grace, and Katie. Visitation will be held Thursday evening, 7-9 p.m., at Philpott Church, 84 York Blvd., Hamilton. The Funeral will be held on Friday morning at 11 a.m., at Philpott Church, reception to follow. Online condolences and notes of sympathy may be left at www.donaldvbrown.ca